Harry Potter and the Two Missing Decades
by SJohnson91
Summary: This story picks up after "The Battle of Hogwarts" and follows the lives of Harry, Ron, Hermione etc. - I've had a long hard think about where I want it to go, and despite it now being quite long (it does span 20 years!), I think that it will, as long as it sounds as good on paper as it does in my head, be a really good read. Give it a chance, it gets pretty exciting!
1. An Untimely Awakening

**So, a couple of weeks ago, once again, I started to make my way through the fantastic Harry Potter series and for some reason (probably due to stumbling across this website!) I felt compelled to give Harry and his friends a story after the battle of Hogwarts.**

**I understand and appreciate why JK left it as it was, but couldn't quite help myself taking on the challenge of giving them a life after the battle, which I have to say, won't quite include the bliss 19 years of peace as depicted by JK in the epilogue...that just wouldn't make for great reading right?**

**So, here is my take on what could have happened after Harry defeated Voldemort that night at Hogwarts, hopefully it comes out as well in writing as it has sounded in my head!**

**Also, I must of course mention that I do not, unfortunately, own anything to with the Harry Potter brand and that this is merely my take on the work of JK Rowling.**

**Enjoy!**

**Chapter 1**

'Harry?'

The voice sounded familiar, but was distant, mixed amongst other noises, terrible noises ... they were also familiar.

'Harry, are you ok?'

Closer now, but still, the unbearable screams of pain and anguish drowned out the person reaching out to him. He could make out his surroundings now, high turrets and huge double entrance doors gave way to a grand lobby, which branched off into several stone walled corridors, he knew which one to take, and hurried onwards, torches lining the walls providing an eerie light, casting huge shadows of a group gathered round the large stone wall at the end of the corridor. They seemed to be looking at something in particular, and there too, was the person he was looking for, though he didn't know how, he knew this person would be able to make sense of this all and answer his many unanswered questions, he was sure he'd been expected here by this person, the one standing above the rest of the group with a look of triumph upon his face. He knew that face, but from where though? - had he been here before? None of it could make sense without getting to the end of the corridor - he was close now, his heart beating fast and hard, he could hear the group at the end of the corridor ... there were many excited voices.

Suddenly, without prior warning, a forceful tug on his shoulder and ... the voices, the screams, flashes of brilliant light and ground shaking crashes ceased at once. He was no longer making his way through the torch lined corridor, but found himself staring up into the blurry outline of a face.

'Sorry to wake you mate, sounded like things were getting a bit too much there - here, these might help.'

He felt his glasses being placed into his hands and put them on. Gradually, the figure of Ron Weasley, sat at the edge of his Four-Poster bed in the Gryffindor dormitory came into focus. He looked terrible - pale and frail, and by the looks of things hadn't had much sleep at all recently.

'At least I know it's not just me,' said Ron quietly 'I've been reliving yesterday's events all through the night, it doesn't seem real yet though and I'm sure the nightmares will only be the start of it'.

Harry manoeuvred himself upright onto his pillows, which took tremendous effort given that every muscle in him had screamed in protest at the movement, and adjusted himself to face his best friend.

'How long have I been out for?' Was all Harry could come up with at that very moment and time. He knew he should be strong and supportive for his friend, especially as he had suffered loss as much as Harry had over the last day or so, but first he had to gather himself so he could establish what was going on. Now was not the time either to read into the strange turn his dream seemed to have taken, nor to burden his loved ones with anything more than they were already having to deal with.

'Going on 15 hours' Ron said with a tired smile, 'Mum's had me up here every 10 minutes for the last few hours to see if you're awake yet, I've been in the Great Hall - just couldn't sleep anymore. If you hurry we might still be able to salvage some breakfast'.

'Your Mum and all the family are still here?' Harry asked, quite surprised at the news, 'Didn't they want to get home and rest after everything that's gone on?'

Ron smiled again. 'Dad's already had to leave for the Ministry with Percy, they've got all sorts to deal with just now. - Mum was dead set on getting all of us, you and Hermoine included back home, so she could fuss over us all, but McGonagall announced she is calling an assembly today in the Great Hall to let everyone know what's going to happen from here, Shacklebolt will be there too, he'll be giving a short speech... - after hearing this, Ginny refused to go anywhere and told Mum you wouldn't want to miss what was happening with the school and the memori-', his words faltered at the thought of the inevitable memorial services for the victims of the battle, his older brother included. It took him a few moments to regain his composure, 'Er, well you know what I mean.' He said finally. 'Anyway, Mum agreed to stay the night and has been helping the teachers and some other parents with some of the clean up.' 'Whilst still managing to fuss over everyone in sight' he added with an affectionate grin.

Harry was trying to take in everything his friend was saying, but was having a little trouble getting past one particular point that had shone brightly through the darkness that was threatening to engulf him as he was forced to think, once again, about the events of the last couple of days ... Ginny had cared enough to speak up for him when he wasn't there - his heart done what felt like a couple of backflips inside his chest, but as quickly as the feeling of elation had come upon him, he forced it back again. Now was not the time to be thinking about patching up his own problems, there was time, much time, in the not so distant future for that, right now, he had friends and family who needed him to help them grieve and he would make sure that he put everyone else's issues before his. It was the least he could do.

'Er ... Harry?' Ron had a tentative edge to his voice.

Harry managed to snap out of his thoughts, instantly feeling guilty about letting his mind wander to Ginny. 'Yeah, sorry - let me just get cleaned up and I'll meet you in the common room in about fifteen minutes.'

Ron groaned, '_Fifteen_ minutes?, Mum wouldn't let me start breakfast until you got down and I'm starving!'

Harry couldn't help himself, and despite feeling like he might never laugh again a minute or so ago, he felt it leave him before he could do anything about it. It sounded hoarse, it had been a while since he'd had good reason to laugh. 'I'm glad your minds not been affected by all of this,' he told Ron with a grin, 'or at least not your appetite!'

'Yeah, well if you had to sit and watch everyone else at the table tuck in while you had to run up and down the castle every ten minutes to check on your mate, who'd decided to sleep for nearly a whole day, you'd be starving too!' Ron's delivery perfectly depicted his annoyance, but his face was a complete giveaway - lined with amusement, he too was clearly enjoying the small moment of humour shared between them, also he seemed delighted to see his best friend with a genuine smile on his face.

'Alright, you win,' sighed Harry, pretending to concede defeat, 'I'll be ready in ten minutes instead.'

Making his way to the dormitory bathrooms, Harry flung the shower on hot, preparing to try and wash away the memories of the battle the night before, and cleanse himself of the guilt and sorrow he felt for those lost.

As he let the near boiling water pour over him, he still couldn't block out everything, memories he couldn't deal with at the moment came rising to the surface, such as Remus, Tonks, Fred and little Colin Creevey - all gone, never to return, and his Godson, Teddy, who would grow up without parents, just as he himself had...

'He won't be alone like I was!' Harry had shouted it before he could stop himself, momenterally startled by his own outburst, he leaned against the shower rail before straightening himself up again and quickly finishing his shower.

After donning a new pair of robes, he went to meet Ron in the common room, and they started toward the portrait of the Fat Lady, and eventually stepped out into the corridor beyond.

The damage, Harry noticed on the way down to the Great Hall, was immense. The once sturdy castle walls were split and cracked in places, and completely blown away in others. Suits of armour were strewn across corridors, whilst portraits were shredded, hanging limply on the wall. The one blessing, Harry thought anyway, was that they never encountered anyone on their way down. He really didn't think he could face anyone except the ones closest to him yet.

As they arrived at the top of the staircase leading down the the Entrance Hall from the first floor, Ron suddenly put his arm across Harry's chest to stop him, and turned to face him.

'Listen, Harry, I think it's best you know this now before we go in ... try not to freak out or anything, but pretty much the whole school, along with pretty much every set of parents and all the teachers are in the Great Hall just now and your name has been mentioned more than a few times,' He sighed and continued as Harry had started to give him a hard look, and looked quite likely to turn around and make his way back up to the Common Room. 'Look mate, you have to get this over with and I know it's the last thing you want to do, but you can't hide away forever and there doesn't seem to be a better time to show face than this ... at least you've got all of us here with you.'

'Fine,' agreed Harry, reluctantly, 'I do get the feeling that there was a reason for you not revealing this little bit of information until we were a stones throw away from the Great Hall though, if you'd told me six floors up, I might have been a bit more prepared for this.'

'Well, you know me,' said Ron with a slight chuckle, 'timings never exactly been my strongest point!'

Knowing, deep down nonetheless, that Ron was actually quite right about Harry showing face now whilst he had his loved ones with him, to support him, didn't make that descent to the Great Hall any easier. Infact, his only saving grace, was that the doors to the Hall were wide open, which would save every head at Hogwarts turning to see who the new arrival was when they creaked open. Harry said a silent thank you to whoever was responsible for leaving the doors open as he approached them.

'Our table is just about four rows in from the door mate, to the left as you go in, said Ron quietly, 'remember, don't worry about anyone else, they're all going to be really happy to see you anyway, remember, as much as it doesn't feel like it just now for us, this is a pretty special day for most people, and it's mostly down to you.'

And with that they walked through the arched entrance and stepped into the Great Hall, together, as they had done so many times before.


	2. The Future of Hogwarts

The Great Hall was as Harry had never seen it before. Hundreds upon hundreds of small tables were lined up and down the Hall, almost in picnic bench fashion. No large, long house tables as there would normally be, for every student to be involved and together, but instead, it seemed the tables were meant for families to have their own space and privacy if they so desired, albeit, some had joined their tables together to easier engage in conversation. The Hall itself still showed signs of the battle, but had obviously been partially restored as one of the walls Harry had seen destroyed with his own eyes during the battle, was now fully upright again and a few of the teachers seemed to be admiring each others work.

By the time Harry had taken all of this in, he and Ron were now past the second row of tables and Harry had just laid eyes on the table Ron, his family and friends were at. A jolt of excitement shot through him at the sight of a few of his favourite people in the world, there was Mrs Weasley at the top right of the table, who seemed to be trying to talk to everyone at the table at the same time, whilst on her immediate left was Ginny, followed by Hermione, then Fluer. Opposite Fluer sat Bill, Charlie and then George Weasley. Everyone, with the exception of Mrs Weasley looked to be extremely quiet and Harry surmised, with a pang of real emotion, that this was just her way of dealing with the loss of her Son - keep busy and dote on all of her other children.

They were now nearly past the third row of tables and only had seconds to go until they reached their table. Harry couldn't quite believe their luck that they'd made it this far unnoticed and was about to make a quick dash to the vacant space at George's left hand side, when all of a sudden...

'It's Harry, Harry Potter!'

The voice was high, loud and excited and as Harry located the source of the outburst, a small Hufflepuff first year girl, who had literally stood on her seat to point, about four tables to his right, he was rooted to the spot.

He expected the whispering and pointing to start straight away, but still hadn't regained the use of his legs to walk those last few precious steps towards his table when something else happened. Something worse than any amount of whispering or pointing in his opinion - the family of the young girl who had called out had risen to their feet and began applauding Harry's arrival. To make matters worse, for Harry at least, pretty much every table in the Great Hall had almost immediately joined in, the Great Hall was soon full of cheers and applause, for _him_, and all he had in response was an expression of sheer disbelief, still frozen in the same spot he had been moments before.

'C'mon, move mate, you look like you've been petrified.' He barely registered Ron's words mumbled in his ear, but didn't resist when his friend began to steer him the last few paces toward their table, infact, he barely noticed they were moving at all, and continued to nod blankly at the Witches and Wizards who were grabbing his hands as they passed the last couple of tables. And before he knew what was happening ...

'Oh, Harry!' Mrs Weasley had pulled him into a rib cracking hug as soon as he'd got close enough for her to reach him, 'I'm so glad your here dear, we've all been worried sick with you being out so long.' She pulled away from him and held him at arms length to examine him - 'You're thin dear, when did you last have a good meal? Lets get you some breakfast organised, get comfortable and I'll be right back, just a quick word with Minerva and she'll have something right up for us.'

Harry didn't have a response fitting enough for the rush of gratitude he felt toward Ron's mother at this point, so simply nodded and smiled as she hurried off toward the staff table, shrugging off questions from other tables as she went.

Hermoine was already throwing herself towards him as he turned back round to face their table and he had to adjust quickly to get his arms out of her way. Her expression was an odd mix of sheer delight and utter devastation, but she was obviously thrilled to see him, 'Harry, it's great to have you back with us. I'm sorry -' she brushed a tear quickly from her eye, 'I've never experienced such conflicting emotions ... I'm so happy about Ron and I, and of course I'm delighted that Voldemort has finally gone, but what it's cost us all, it's terrible...'

'I know, but just try and focus on the good to come out of this, I'm sure you and Ron will be very happy together,' he said this with a smile and a wink at Ron over Hermoine's shoulder and all of a sudden Ron looked very pleased with himself. Harry didn't think that now was a good time to mention that, what with everything else that had happened, he had completely forgotten about Ron and Hermoine's little moment right in the middle of the Battle of Hogwarts - suddenly though, he understood Ron's little joke about timing from earlier a lot more and made a mental note to tell Ron that this had been one of his better attempts at humour.

Hermoine gave him one last watery smile, then went to sit down again with Ron on the other side of the table.

Harry then exchanged welcomes with the rest of the Weasley's and last of all, Fluer, who had her usual two kiss routine for him. She looked distraught, but still radiantly beautiful as she looked him in the eye and said 'Ah, 'Arry - eet is so bittersweet that we are 'ere, what Bill, eez brothers and Ginny must be feeling is 'orrible ... I do not know what I would do if eet were Gabrielle ... to lose a sibling, eet is terrible.' Harry nodded in solemn agreement and watched as Fluer went to sit back down and grasp Bill's hand in support from across the table.

Harry then took the seat next to George he had been planning on taking from the start, and was content to sit and listen to the others quietly chat away until Mrs Weasley reappeared a few moments later.

'All right, I hope everyone is hungry - Professor McGonagall is going to have the kitchens send up breakfast any minute now,' she said slightly out of breath, 'Ah, here we are then' she exclaimed as the table in front of them was suddenly laden with every breakfast item you could possibly imagine.

'It's about time!' Ron said, instantly loading up his plate with enough food to feed every person at the table.

Everyone laughed at Ron's typical reaction to food and began helping themselves. As Harry had just finished eating and got himself ready to sit back in silent content for a couple of minutes, he felt the ground suddenly shake beneath him - the next thing he knew he was literally lifted from his seat, about ten feet in the air and found himself face to face with Hagrid.

'Harry!, yeh did it Harry, Dumbledore always said yeh would an' all, but yeh didn' half scare me to death in the Forrest when yeh were down an' out for a while,' he placed Harry down from the bearhug he had been in previously, perhaps noticing that Harry had started to turn a bit blue from lack of oxygen, 'Should never 'ave doubted yeh Harry - always knew yeh had it in yeh, yeh were so brave, jus' like James an' Lily last night, they woulda been so proud yeh know!' He was beaming down at Harry, tears welling in his great, dark eyes and Harry beamed back - Hagrid was probably the only person in the world that he didn't have the heart to tell he didn't really want to talk about this right now.

'Thanks Hagrid, I really couldn't have done it without everyone else, including you and Grawp - you were both amazing.' He was then nearly crushed as Hagrid patted him on the shoulder with a giant hand, 'Ah, I was jus' glad to do my bit, yeh know, anyway, I better get back to the teachers - they'll be needing me to help clear up I s'pose.'

Saying farewell to everyone else at the table and making everyone promise to stay in touch, Hagrid left to go back to the teachers to resume his clean up duties.

Feeling his mood had lifted significantly since eating, seing Hagrid and spending time with his loved ones, Harry chanced a look over at Ginny, something that he had been trying to avoid since joining them in the Great Hall.

The connection was instant - and electric. She had somehow, despite the fact she was staring out the Great Hall window, in the opposite direction, felt his eyes on her and at that very moment had spun her head round to meet his gaze. Harry sat there, dumbstruck, for several, thundering heartbeats before forcing himself to look away. He stared hard at the table while he tried to return his pulse to normal - but he could still feel Ginny's eyes boring into him, therefore his attemps were futile.

'Harry?'

Harry turned his head to see the formidable figure of Professor McGonagall approaching, however, as she got closer, she didn't look like the stern Head of House he was used to - she had, as much was possible for Professor McGonagall, a warm smile on her face and looked genuinely delighted to see Harry.

'Professor, how are you?', Harry said, glad for the interruption from Ginny's glare for the time being, 'how's the restoration work going?'

'Well we're getting there, I haven't seen the castle in this much of a mess in over 50 years - the main problem is, a lot of the damage has been caused by Dark Magic, which as you will no doubt know, is insufferably difficult and in some cases impossible to correct.' She stopped smiling for a moment at this thought, but then continued, 'Nonetheless, we shall do all we can to restore Hogwarts to her former glory.'

'Anyway, as I'm sure you will no doubt have already been informed, I will shortly be giving a speech to the school to advise our plans for progression. After myself and Minister Shacklebolt have said a few words, I would appreciate it if you, Mr Weasley and Ms Granger would join me in my office, which is of course now the Head's office.' She gave another thin smile at the look of confusion on everyone's face and said, 'All will be made clear if you choose to attend - I would just rather not discuss these matters,' - she waved her arm around the room, 'in front of such a large audience.' And with that, she turned and made her way back to the teachers table to get ready to deliver her speech.

Another few minutes of idle chit chat passed, as Harry was once again forced to stop himself from looking at Ginny for the time being, he found himself unable to join in with conversation, incase he let his guard down again, so therefore once again sat back and contented himself with listening to what everyone else was saying.

He had picked up snippets from nearby tables whilst he was just sitting listening and from what he had gathered, Ron was correct with his summary that this was 'a pretty special day' for everyone. The general mood was jovial and despite the fact that he and his loved ones were laden with grief - it was hard not to be infected by the sheer volume of happy voices.

Almost at once though, as Harry was lost in his thoughts, the Great Hall became near silent. He felt a nudge in his ribs and tuned to see George pointing toward the staff table where Minerva McGonagall stood, apparently now ready to deliver her speech to the school. Harry noted that her ability to silence a classroom with here mere presence obviously stretched to much larger environments too, as her gaze swept the entire Hall, any table that hadn't noticed her at first, immediately fell silent when they did.

'Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry,' she began, still scanning the room, as if daring anyone to interrupt, 'I must begin by thanking you all profusely, for sticking with us through such a difficult time. Each and every one of your bravery is commendable and shall not ever be forgotten.' She took a deep breath and paused, not for effect, but to, quite astonishingly, wipe her eye with the sleeve of her robe. 'As you will all know and appreciate, we have been through quite a year, quite a year indeed, but we have prevailed!' Another pause, and she was louder this time, really fired up, 'You may have heard whispers that after such an ordeal, we would have no choice but to close the School for good. These whispers, are in part, correct. After what Hogwarts and it's students has been subjected to, I could see several good reasons for the powers that be to want to, shall we say, - lock the door and through away the key?'

Harry was astounded - were they going to close down Hogwarts? After everything that they'd all been through, would they really close down the first place he'd called home? He chanced a glance at Hermione, if anyone could read into a speech, she could - but she was just staring at Professor McGonagall, her eyes full of tears - were they of sadness or joy though? - he really couldn't tell...

'However,' Professor McGonagall continued, a slight smile visible again on her thin lips, 'I have yet to hear, from anyone, a better reason to close down this School, than the truly wonderful reason I have to keep it going.'

Harry breathed a sigh of relief, as did the rest of the Hall by the sound of it, because albeit he may no longer call Hogwarts home, he would always feel an affinity toward the school and would be devastated to find it no longer available to those who required it.

'The reason I _will_ continue to be the Headmistress at this School and make sure that it still remains a prestigious establishment to develop magic,' Professor McGonagall was saying, scanning the room again, but this time with real pride etched upon her face, gesturing with her arm at all in the Hall, 'is because of _all_ of you! As I have already pointed out, your bravery is commendable, but the loyalty which you have shown toward this school is above and beyond the call of duty of any student and I must say, I am touched at how much Hogwarts clearly means to each and every one of you. Because of you, we have ended one of the darkest periods in our world, overcome evil despite the odds being impossibly stacked against us ... and most importantly, shown a togetherness that the founders of this great school would be proud of!' She really did have to wipe her eyes now, they were filling more and more as she went on, 'We have, of course, lost some truly wonderful people over these last few years and in particular, the deaths of those from last nights battle are still incredibly raw for all of us, however, I know that they will all be incredibly honoured to know that they gave their lives for something so special - peace for their loved ones. Whilst I am on this extremely sensitive subject, I should note that there will be a memorial service held on the fifth of May, two days from now, for all that lost their lives at the Battle of Hogwarts.' She took one last deep breath and finally, 'The school will be, to further enhance the restoration, closing for the Summer break as of today and further instructions on exam procedures and the likes, will follow by Owl Post over the holidays. So, it is with great pride that I welcome everyone who wishes to be taught here, back to Hogwarts next year with open arms.'

And with that, she almost fell back into her chair as the whole hall burst into applause. The noise was deafening, but Harry was so glad to see that there was not a single table in the Great Hall left sitting - everyone was on their feet.

It took a few minutes for the cheering and applause to die down, but eventually, everyone was back in their seats and Kingsley Shacklebolt took this as his opportunity to say a few words.

'Ladies and Gentleman,' he began, in his deep, booming voice, 'I cannot and will not be giving such a heartfelt speech as Minerva just has, but before I go any further, I would like to say as a former student, the passion you still show to this day is quite incredible and extremely inspiring,' this earned Kingsley a round of applause and another rare smile from McGonagall. 'The purpose of my few words, is to warn everyone to keep alert. Despite the fact Lord Voldemort has fallen,' the mention of his name still made half of the Hall twitch uncomfortably, as if prodded by a hot poker, 'Many of his most dangerous supporters are still unaccounted for, therefore I would like to remind you to practise extreme caution, as they are, master or no master, still considered extremely dangerous. We are working night and day at the moment to bring the missing Death Eaters in, but until they are safely tucked away in Azkaban, I would like everyone to remain alert and look after each other. The Ministry will be giving regular progress updates through the Daily Prophet and various Radio Broadcasts and expect to have results sooner, rather than later.' With a final glance round the room, Kingsley rounded up by saying, 'I thank everyone for their time today and look forward to having good news for you all very soon.'

Another, slightly less enthusiastic, round of applause for Kingsley and the crowds were starting to thin after McGonagall announced carriages were waiting outside for those who were leaving first.

After most of the hall was empty, Professor McGonagall caught Harry's eye over the remaining students and parents and gave him a quick nod.

With that, Harry rose from the table, told Ron and Hermione McGonagall was ready for them, let everyone else know they wouldn't be long and would hurry back, then left the Great Hall to make his way back up to the seventh floor with Ron and Hermione, wondering what on earth they were required in the Headmistresses office for.


	3. Unexpected Offers

Harry was grateful for the time alone he had with Ron and Hermione on the way up to the seventh floor and was more than happy to just make the journey in silence, which was without any awkwardness that would usually come between friends in a prolonged silence, however, as they knew each other so well, there was nothing of the sort. They all knew there would be plenty of time for talking soon enough.

As they arrived outside the Head's office though, Hermione was the one to break the silence, 'Oh for goodness sake, we've forgotten to ask for the password! We'll just have to wait until McGonagall comes up.' She looked incredibly annoyed at herself for forgetting something so obvious.

'I think,' said Harry, as he stepped forward to face the stone gargoyle that protected against unwanted access to the office, 'That this should do it -' '_Hogwarts!'_

At this, the stone gargoyle immediately sprung to one side, with the split in the wall giving way to the familiar spiral staircase that would take them up to the office itself.

'Good guess mate,' said Ron with a grin, as they all stepped onto the magical staircase that was already moving, taking them up to the highly polished oak door at the top, 'Maybe you should've passed Divination after all.'

As they entered Professor McGonagall's office, Harry's first instinct was to glance up at the portrait that sat right behind the desk in the centre of the office, however, he noticed that it was empty and after doing a hopeful sweep of the other Headmasters Portraits, who were all waving happily at them, felt a sudden rush of irritation that Albus Dumbledore wasn't anywhere to be seen, so instead, he decided to sit himself in one of the four seats in front of the desk with Ron and Hermione beside him.

'I wonder why we're here ...,' began Hermione.

'Well, it's quite obvious isn't it?' Ron interrupted, matter of factly, 'McGonagall's clearly going to try and convince us to stay on and finish our NEWT's now that Voldemort's gone.'

'I hardly think, Ron,' Hermione snapped back, 'That Professor McGonagall would drag us up here on today of _all_ days, to discuss our potential future at the school. Anyway, I fully intend to -'

Hermione never did get to tell Ron her intentions though, as at that moment, the door of the office swung open and Professor McGonagall, closely followed by Kingsley Shacklebolt, entered the room. Kingsley stayed a moment or so at the door to allow a third person to enter, then slowly closed the door after Neville Longbottom had entered, looking utterly nonplussed as to why he was there.

'Neville,' Harry said, rising to greet his friend, 'It's great to see you'. Harry certainly hadn't forgotten the huge influence Neville had had on the battle and was so glad to see his once extremely shy and nervous friend finally flourish into a great wizard.

'Yeah, you too, Harry. Ron, Hermione,' he added with a nod and smile at them.

'When you are ready please, Minister,' said Professor McGonagall, 'I don't wish to intrude on our friends day any longer, as I'm sure they would much rather be with their families than stuck in an office with us.' She had taken her seat as she said this, which left Kingsley standing beside her, facing Harry, Ron, Hermione and Neville.

'Of course, Minerva, I completely agree,' Kingsley stated in his instantly soothing, deep voice, 'This will not take long, I merely have a proposition for Harry and his friends.' He smiled at Harry and continued, 'As you will all have heard me say earlier, some of Lord Voldemort's most prolific followers have yet to be detained. We, at the Ministry, can not rest until they are all apprehended, but it's proving extremely difficult to locate them, as resources are so stretched. Also, due to the fact that a huge chunk of the Ministry is currently suspected of supporting the Death Eaters whilst they were in power, there are currently a limited amount of personnel we can fully trust at the moment.' He paused to allow them to process what he had said thus far and then continued, 'Therefore, I would like to offer you all a position within the Auror office, to help bring down those who have managed to flee. I have the utmost confidence that you are all more than capable of this and, more than likely, already have more experience in dealing with the Dark Arts than some of my fully trained Aurors. So, naturally I will overlook the fact that from an examiners point of view, none of you have yet acquired the qualifications to become Aurors - if you wish to accept.'

He smiled at the reaction this produced from them all. Harry was looking at him with real hunger in his eyes, as if determined to go and start straight away, Ron looked excited, but nervous, continually glancing at Hermione to see how she was reacting, but she was merely staring at the floor, biting her lip fervently, as if trying to force an answer from herself. Neville, on the other hand, looked immensely proud and was the first to answer ...

'I'm with you all the way Minister, Gran will be so chuffed, she's always hoped I'd somehow manage to be an Auror!'

'I think after yesterday, Neville,' said Professor McGonogall kindly, 'Your Grandmother would have been proud of you, even if you had decided to devote the rest of your life to raising Flobberworms.' She added with a hint of a smile.

Harry almost laughed out loud at the look on Neville's face as he'd not only, for the first time in his life, been addressed by his first name, a real sign of equality, by McGonagall, but also been paid a compliment at the same time. He had an expression on his face, not too dissimilar to that of Dobby the House Elf, when Harry had bought him a years supply of socks, in return for Dobbies help in the Tri-Wizard Tournament in his fourth year.

Pushing that image out of his mind, he looked Kingsley in the eye, thinking that he still had a lot of unfinished business with the Death Eaters that had caused him and his loved ones so much pain, 'I'm ready too, Kingsley - tell me when you need me and I'll be there.'

'If Harry's in then so am I,' Ron blurted out suddenly, 'It wouldn't feel right not being right there with you, mate. He added as an afterthought to Harry. Harry patted his best friends shoulder - genuinely touched by his loyalty.

'And finally, Hermione?' Shacklebolt asked softly.

'Erm, well, I'm extremely flattered, I _really_ am, but, well, I really did want to come back to Hogwarts and complete my studies while I still can. I haven't really decided what it is that I want to do yet, but I think I may have had enough of fighting the Dark Arts for a whole life time. I'm really sorry.'

Kingsley smiled at Hermione, 'Well, I can't say I'm surprised that the brightest witch of her time would want to complete her studies. When you are ready, I can assure you there will be a job, of your choice, waiting for you at the Ministry.'

Hermione beamed back at Kingsley, 'Thank you! That's really very kind of you.'

'Well, I think this proves how clever you really are Hermione,' laughed Ron, 'You're the only one that realises we've been doing this sort of thing for far too long!' This earned Ron a bright smile from Hermione - she had clearly been worried about what he would think of her choosing to stay on at school.

'Well, I think my work is done here,' boomed Kingsley, making his way round the desk and shaking each of their hands in turn. 'I must leave now, I have many things to attend to, in particular, an extremely irate Norwegian Minister of Magic who, for some reason, has been trying, rather unsuccessfully I may add, to force a meeting with me all morning!' He looked quite amused at this thought, then said finally, 'I will be in touch with you all in the next few days, after the memorial services, to let you know when I propose to start your initiation training. Thank you all once again for taking the time to see me today.' And with that, he was gone, hurrying down the stairs, the door swinging shut behind him.

'Well, I must say, it's quite a shock to be losing three Gryffindors all at once!' Professor McGonagall said, her voice slightly higher than usual, 'but I really can't deny that our new Minister has an excellent eye for talent. Now if you would be so kind, lets head back downstairs so we can finally get you back to your families.'

Everyone was up and ready to go, but just as they were making their way to the door, Harry called out ... 'Er, Professor, do you think I could have a quick word ... in private?'

Professor McGonagall turned round and eyed him quizzically for a moment, as if trying to determine whether he was serious or not, then told the others to wait for them at the stone gargoyle below.

When they were alone, Harry thought about the best way to phrase what he was about to say, then decided it would be best to just come out with it, quick and clean. 'Professor, I -'

She interrupted him almost immediately, 'Harry, as we have already established you are no longer a student here at this school, I would much rather you drop the title, it's Minerva to you now.'

'Oh, right... Er, Minerva...' She had completely thrown him off track with that, and he tried to get his mind back on what he had decided to confide in Minerva McGonagall. 'I've had a pretty strange dream...' was all he managed eventually.

'Define 'strange' for me, Harry.' She patiently asked.

'Well, it was last night, after the battle of course, and I was at a castle. I'm fairly sure it wasn't Hogwarts though,' he added quickly. 'The thing is, it sounded like it did last night, as if there was a full battle going on outside the castle, but I made my way into the castle and along a corridor. It was another one of these dreams that I somehow knew where I was going, knew what I was looking for almost, but it doesn't make any sense because I really didn't recognise the place, so I'm fairly sure I've never been there, but of course, the last time I had a dream like that, it was because Voldemort was inside my mind ... I know this is different, but I still had the feeling that I was someone else in the dream and that I knew exactly why I was there ... Any ideas why?'

McGonagall continued to stare at Harry for several moments after he had stopped speaking, her lips pursed in a thin line, then finally stood up and without a word, pulled her wand out and placed it against her own temple, from which she extracted a thin, silver material, that Harry knew contained a memory.

She then made her way over to the same cupboard Dumbedore used to store his Pensieve and placed the memory inside the Pensieve currently stored there.

'Sorry Harry, I wanted to make sure I got all of that, so nothing slips my mind. I am almost certain you will merely be suffering from the stress of the battle, however, I will examine our chat thoroughly later and let you know if I have anything else to add.' She smiled when she saw him frown, 'I assure you Harry, if I thought you or your loved ones were in any immediate danger I would tell you straight away, however, I somehow get the feeling that you would know before I would - the time for me being able to protect you has passed, I feel, in fact, I would say the roles have been reversed, don't you think? - Now, lets get going, I imagine our friends will have had quite enough of standing around waiting for us by now.'

And with that they both made their way out the door and down the staircase to join the others, with Harry feeling a lot better about getting that off his chest.

What they didn't see, was that as soon as the stone gargoyle had once again sealed the entrance, Albus Dumbledore slipped back into his portrait, looking worried and solemn. He immediately began digging through the mental notes he had made since Harry had been in the office, his brow creased in deep concentration as he tried to make sense of what he'd heard.


	4. Back to the Burrow

Harry's heart skipped a beat as they descended the last few steps of the Grand Staircase, as standing there, next to the huge double entrance doors, was Ginny Weasley. She started towards them, her steely gaze fixed directly on Harry.

Harry quickly turned to the others while Ginny was still a safe distance away and hurriedly said, 'Sorry, I need a minute or two alone ... can I get you all in the Great Hall?'

Judging by their reaction, Harry needn't have asked. Every one of them, even McGonagall, decided that the safest place in Hogwarts at that moment, was as far away from the impending explosion of Ginny Weasley as they could possibly get.

Harry groaned inwardly as Ginny approached, he really had hoped to put this off for a while, he didn't think he was ready to face what was surely coming, but it looked like he wasn't going to have any choice but to face up to it now.

She was right in front of him now, he could see her eyes, glistening with tears, but flashing dangerously, as if flames were dancing behind them. He knew this was never a good sign of things to come.

'Harry, I - I've been trying to get your attention, _all_ morning!' She started, her voice rising dangerously with every word, 'How could you just sit there and ignore me, and expect me to be fine with that!?'

Harry was certain that this wouldn't continue to be a private conversation for much longer if Ginny's voice got much louder, so decided to try for a change of surroundings. 'Er, can we take a walk, Ginny?' He mumbled quietly, nodding towards the doors that led out to the Hogwarts Grounds, 'I really have wanted to talk, I just didn't think it was the right time...' His voice trailed off as she had already grabbed his hand and literally dragged him through the doors and out of the castle.

They walked, or rather she walked, he was pulled along, until they were about halfway along the lake to the south of the castle. It was a beautiful day and if the circumstances of their little walk had been different, he was certain it would have been a most pleasant venture. That thought was pushed firmly from his mind, though, when she turned to face him and said, simply, 'Well?...'

Harry gazed over the lake, taking in the tranquil sight of the sun shimmering on the clear blue surface for a moment, before turning back to Ginny, realising once again just how beautiful she really was, even when she was angry. He then tried to tell her what he'd felt for over a year - he felt irritated with himself for being so bad at this sort of thing... 'Ginny, I'm so sorry, sorry for everything. You know I had my reasons for having to break things off last year, it was for your own good, but I've regretted it every day since, because I've missed you so badly.' He tried to swallow, but found it exceptionally difficult. He couldn't remember his throat being this dry beforehand...'I was going to wait until after the memorial services to see ... to see if you still wanted to be with me. I understand if I've left it too late ... but I really do love you' He finished croakily.

Silence... - Harry had averted his gaze from Ginny when he'd mentioned the memorial services and it took great mental strength to make himself look back up at her, to meet those fiery eyes. He'd been expecting the mention of her brothers funeral to sent her into another rage, for her to direct all of her emotion at him and release it, but to his surprise, when he did look up, he saw that she was smiling ... There were still some tears there, but she was definitely smiling.

Then, without warning, she was on him, kissing him with such passion, such intensity, that he suddenly forgot all about how confused he was at her sudden change of mood. He matched her intensity, breathing in her sweet aroma, feeling every bit of her body pressed against his ... it was a long time before either of them were ready to break the trance of the kiss and when they did, it was with great reluctance.

Ginny was the first to speak afterwards, she was still a bit out of breath, '_Finally_, you've _finally_ said it!' She said, sounding half annoyed, half delighted, 'If you'd said that this morning, I wouldn't have had to force it from you ... have you any idea how close I was to hexing you when you never spoke to me all morning?' Amusement flashed through her brilliant brown eyes at the look of pretend shock on Harry's face, 'I love you too, by the way, but you're not getting off with this until you do one more thing for me.'

Harry couldn't quite believe his ears, Ginny still wanted him, more than that - she loved him. He was feeling so overjoyed at that moment that he was pretty certain even if her request was for him to wrestle a Troll for her, he would accept without a moments thought, 'What is it you need?' He eventually asked...

'I need to know, that no matter what happens from here, you will never walk away from us again. Regardless of how much you think you're protecting me - leaving me behind is not an option - agreed?'

He didn't even have to think about it, and in way of answering her question, he pulled her closed for another fantastic, lingering kiss. When they'd come apart again, he asked 'Shall we head back to get the others then? They'll be wondering where we've gotten to and Ron will have a fit if he finds out what we've been up to!'

She laughed and reluctantly agreed. This time, on the way back, they both really did appreciate the beauty of the Hogwarts grounds, regardless of how badly damaged they had been in the battle. Like everything else though, they would be back to their glorious self, all in good time.

Just before they reached the castle doors again, Harry had one last thing he had to ask. One last thing to get off his chest before he could truly start to heal and move on with his life... their life. 'Ginny,' he said suddenly, 'Do you blame me for, well, you know ... for what happened to Fred?' It took a lot for him to ask this, and he felt himself holding his breath as he waited on Ginny's reply. She was staring at him, with a look of sympathy and sadness on her face.

'No, Harry, not in the slightest. And neither does anyone else. Not a single person on this planet holds any of this against you.' she sighed deeply, as if she had expected this from him. 'Everyone we've lost knew what they were fighting for and everyone was willing to give their lives for it. Every single person knows that you were willing to give your life for them, you proved it when you fully believed Voldmemort would kill you, but accepted it, because you thought you were saving everyone else. You're so brave Harry, but sometimes it amazes me how even after you've saved the entire Wizarding World, you can still blame yourself for everything that's gone wrong.' She smiled at this, he guessed that she must like that particular trait of his, and then she finally said, 'Ŵe all really miss Fred, Remus and Tonks but we all know you do too. We will get through it much easier if we tackle all of this together, as a family.'

Harry smiled and pulled her close to kiss her again, 'Thank You' he said softly - and he really meant it.

As they returned to the Great Hall, they found everyone else ready to go. Mrs Weasley was still hovering round the table though, apparently trying to determine whose luggage belonged to who, but gave up upon seing Ginny and Harry enter. 'There you both are!, she said excitedly, 'I can tell that everything went well then!' - she looked genuinely happy for them and Harry was once again reminded of why he loved Ginny's mother so much.

'Whad'ya mean everything went well?' Interrupted Ron, eyeing Harry and Ginny suspiciously, 'Please tell me you haven't been snogging my sister this whole time, Harry!' Harry's face must have told the whole story, as Ron suddenly groaned and shook his head as if trying to get rid of the thought.

'I don't know what you're moaning at mate,' he said to Ron, a huge grin still on his face, 'at least we waited until the fighting had stopped before we shared our special moment!'

This got a laugh out of everyone and Ron suddenly turned a bright shade of red, cursing Harry's quick wit under his breath, he suddenly took a great interest in the luggage, as if he were determined to find his case Inbetween everyone else's. Hermione though, spotted his little diversionary trick and stepped in to pull him away from the suitcases, 'It's ok Ron,' she said with a playful smile, 'you _are_ allowed to show affection in public you know!'

Ron muttered something indeterminable that deffinately contained something about 'my sister' but then joined in laughing with the rest of them.

'Right,' said Mrs Weasley, above the noise, 'I think it's best we all got going then. Minerva is kindly going to lift the protective charms placed on the School within the Hall itself, so we can all Apparate home. So we will just send these cases on first, ( - she waved her wand and half of the cases vanished) and these too'... ( - another flick of her wand) ... And all the luggage was gone. 'Right you are Minerva, ready when you are!' She called to McGonagall, who rose from the Head Table to perform a series of complicated wand movements. As soon as she had finished, Harry felt a rush of what felt like fresh air and knew the spells had been lifted.

'All right everyone, here we go, see you all at home.' Said Mrs Weasley, and with a twist of her robes, she was gone.

Harry had one last look round the hall, waved a final farewell to McGonagall and the rest of the teachers, made sure Ginny had a tight hold of him as she would be side along Apparating with him, then spun on the spot, opening his eyes a second later to see his second favourite building in the world directly in front of him: The Burrow.


	5. Quality Time

A bright ray of sunlight shone through the window of the bedroom on the second floor of the Burrow, waking Harry Potter from the peaceful sleep he had been enjoying just moments beforehand.

He lay where he was, eyes closed again, smiling contentedly to himself, as he let the memories from the previous day wash over him. All in all, he surmised, it had been a pretty fantastic day; by all accounts. It had started off poorly though, with an imminently awkward entrance into the Great Hall at Hogwarts, that was; at that time, full of 'the-boy-who-lived' fever. That had not been easy for him. However, things soon drastically improved and he was not only offered a career as an Auror, the only thing he had really every considered doing after he left Hogwarts, but he also managed to rekindle his relationship with the girl of his dreams. A warm sensation flooded through him at the thought of Ginny Weasley, and he suddenly had to stop himself from Apparating into her bedroom on the floor below, just so he could be with her.

They had spent a lot of time together when they arrived back to the Burrow the previous day. It had been great, for all involved, having a family dinner at the Weasley's - particularly for Harry though, who had seen first hand that the Weasley's certainly did not blame him for Fred's death, infact, they all seemed more concerned about how _Harry_ was coping - something he quickly assured them not be worried about, especially now that he had Ginny, along with Ron and Hermione to help him through.

After their meal, and a few quick games of exploding snap, everyone had went up to bed very early, but Harry and Ginny had stayed in the sitting room, lying together on the couch and chatting until well after midnight. It had been so refreshing for Harry to have someone to talk to who would not only listen to everything he had to say, but have such a special way of making him feel like everything really was going to be work out just fine. For the first time in a long time, perhaps even ever, he actually believed that things could be heading firmly in the right direction.

His thoughts were interrupted at that point though; Ron burst into the room unannounced, promptly leapt onto Harry's bed and started to slap Harry round the face ... obviously under the impression Harry was still asleep.

'Ron ... what on _earth_ are you doing? ... I'm awake, all right!?' Harry said loudly, desperately trying to fight off his over excited friend.

'Ah, superb, well in that case, you might want to get dressed. Breakfast is ready.' He wriggled his way back off the bed again ... 'Oh, and Kingsley is downstairs too; he wants a word with us both.' He was positively bouncing with excitement at the prospect of this by this point and Harry knew he had deliberately mentioned it last - obviously trying to play down how much he was looking forward to starting their new job.

'I'll be five minutes' said Harry, grinning at his friends reaction, then throwing his pillow at Ron as a signal for him to leave.

Five minutes later, Harry was entering the ever so slightly crowded kitchen. Kingsley sat at the top of the table, with Percy by his side; they stood to greet Harry, who shook hands with both of them. The rest of the Weasley family was crammed round the rest of the table, with the exception of Mrs Weasley, Ginny and Hermione who were currently in the process of dishing up breakfast.

Kingsley spoke first, 'Harry, Ron ... I'm sorry to drop in on you both like this, I know I said I would be in touch after the memorial service, but my schedule has really become quite outrageously full for the rest of the week.' He looked pained at the thought of this, but continued nonetheless, 'I wanted to be the one to agree on a start date with you all, and as we're on Monday today, how do you both feel about starting in seven days time? ... At least then you'll be there for Monday morning briefings, see how everything is set up for the week, and get to meet the rest of the team before they disappear on cases for the rest of the week...'

Harry's mind was already made up, but he looked at Ron to see how he felt about this. He needn't have bothered, as Ron merely had the same look of excitement on his face that had been there since Kingsley first arrived at the Burrow.

'That sounds perfect Kingsley ... We won't let you down.' Harry stated, his face set in serious determination.

'Excellent,' Kingsley boomed, 'Well, in that case - I'll see you both Monday morning, Eight o'clock sharp!'

'Are you sure you won't both stay for breakfast?' Mrs Weasley called over from the stove, where she was transferring bacon from the pan to everyone's plates - 'There really is plenty for everyone.'

Percy spoke this time, after a glance at his watch, 'I'm sorry, Mother, but we really must be going.' He said briskly, 'We still have to meet with Mr. Longbottom and if we don't get a move on, the Minister will be late for his Ten Thirty meeting!'

'Only you could make being late for a meeting sound like a life and death situation Perce,' joked George, grinning at his brother from across the table, 'Try and liven up a bit, we have just got rid of the most evil wizard of all time, surely, even _you_ could conjure a smile about that every once in a while?'

This had everyone, with the exception of Percy and Mrs Weasley in fits of laughter. Even Kingsley was wiping away tears of laughter when they eventually said their goodbyes and headed for the door, Percy still looking rather sour at being the butt of the joke. As soon as they heard the familiar crack of them Apparating, they sat down to breakfast and Mrs Weasley revealed, much to everyone's amusement, that she had in fact found George's comment hilarious, but hadn't wanted to laugh at Percy in front of his boss.

The rest of the day at the Burrow was, in Harry's opinion, perfect. He, Ron, Hermione and Ginny had helped Mrs Weasley clean up after breakfast, with Harry learning a few really handy domestic spells from Mrs Weasley in the process, which to his surprise, he picked up extremely easily. It wasn't long before (even with Ron taunting him about being the perfect little housewife), he could make the dishes wash and dry themselves, whilst at the same time make the broom and mop sweep and clean the floors.

Ater their clean up, and some time spent lazing around the house, Harry and Ginny had organised a little game of Quidditch, mostly to see how rusty Harry had gotten over the last year, having barley used his Firebolt, never mind actually play Quidditch.

They made their way up to the small paddock behind the Burrow. It was going to be Harry, Ron and George, up against Bill, Ginny and Charlie, playing a simple Chasers vs. Chasers game, while Mrs Weasley, Hermione and Fluer came with them purely to spectate.

The rush Harry felt when he kicked off the ground and shot into the air was beyond fantastic. He'd almost forgotten how great it felt to fly, and at that moment, made a promise to himself not to go this long without playing Quidditch ever again. The game itself was a pretty tight affair, and as they made their way back to the ground after a couple of hours of playing, there had been so many goals scored by each team that nobody was quite sure of the exact score. Nonetheless, the experience was fantastic, as were Harry's flying skills incidentally, and they all promised to have another game the next time they were all together at the Burrow.

'Well then, Harry,' Ginny teased as they made their way back down to the Burrow to prepare for dinner, 'At what point when searching for Horcruxes last year did you have time to practise Quidditch?'

Harry laughed and wrapped an arm around her, 'Well, you see,' he said, keeping a straight face, 'It wasn't actually me who done any of that stuff last year, I was training with a professional Quidditch side overseas and arrived back at the last minute to finish off Voldemort after everyone else had done all the hard work for me ... Didn't you know?'

Ginny giggled and leaned closer into his arm, 'Don't say that too loud Harry, you never know when Rita Skeeter is about and we all know she'd love to have that quote on her front page!'

They were still laughing when they entered the kitchen, and Mrs Weasley greeted them with a warm smile. 'I'm really glad you're both so happy,' she said, looking at her little girl, all grown up, 'If you both want to get showered now though, I'll have dinner ready just shortly.

At that, they both went their seperate ways to get ready and were back downstairs in about half an hour, finding the kitchen full of the welcoming smell of Mrs Weasley's delicious homemade casserole.

They were joined half way through the meal by Mr Weasley, who quickly plated himself up a portion and took his seat at the table. Harry was fascinated to hear how the Ministry was doing at the moment from someone who worked there, and was still immersed in Mr Weasley's stories long after they had finished eating. He was currently telling Harry a particularly hilarious story about several of the suspected Death Eater sympathisers who still worked at the Ministry, mysteriously vanishing, only to turn up a few days later claiming to have been kidnapped by a group of Aurors whom were supposed to have unceremoniously dropped them off on a deserted island in the North Sea and set up anti-Apparation shields, so they had no choice but to wait and flag down the Muggle Coastguard, whilst trying to protect themselves from the freezing wind and rain, when he was stopped in his tracks ... overhearing Mrs Weasley mentioning the memorial services to the rest of the family.

'I almost didn't want to believe that the memorials were actually tomorrow,' he said grimly to Harry, 'It's going to be a really tough day for all of us - especially Molly, who no doubt will make it her mission to make sure everyone else is ok first, before worrying about how she feels herself..'

Harry didn't have much he could offer on this, so instead, he patted Mr Weasley's arm to try and comfort him, which seemed to go down quite well as Mr Weasley suddenly clasped him on the shoulder, then stood to follow Mrs Weasley as she'd just went through to the Living Room with all the others. 'We're all so glad to have you in the family Harry, you should know that.'

As Mr Weasley left the kitchen, Harry was left at the table alone, feeling quite embarrassed, yet genuinely touched at what Mr Weasley had said to him.

Ginny slipped through the kitchen door a moment later though, and Harry's feeling of embarrassment quickly left him as he pulled her onto his knee and kissed her ... a long, lingering kiss that left them both breathless by the end of it.

'And _what_ was that for, Harry Potter?' She asked quitely, her eyebrows raised in feigned shock.

'For being outstanding,' he whispered in her ear, then adding 'Also, it's for having the best family in the world - I just can't go around thanking them like that though, can I? Can you imagine the look on Ron's face if I tried to snog him?'

'He'd probably just react exactly the same as he does if Hermione tries to kiss him in public - run a mile ... he really is _such_ a child sometimes, I honestly don't know how you put up with him!'

'Seven years of hard practice,' Harry said with a grin, 'Anyway, it's getting late ... we have to be up pretty early tomorrow ... Shall we try and get some sleep?

Ginny nodded in agreement, and after saying goodnight to everyone in the Living Room, they headed up the stairs together, spent five minutes or so outside Ginny's room, saying a pretty private (and silent) goodnight to each other, then went to their own beds to try and get some sleep so they were ready for the tough day that was to come.

As Harry got into bed, his thoughts were still on Ginny. He was quite happy to let his mind wander to her, it was certainly better than lying thinking about the memorial services. So, as he closed his eyes, he pictured her captivating, bright brown eyes, looking deeply into his as they had been when they shared that special goodnight kiss only moments ago...

Then he was moving. Moving quickly down the familiar, dimly lit corridor. It was imperative he got past the crowd that had gathered, he had to make it to the one he required. He could see him now, clearer than ever before, that same look of triumph etched upon his face. But then the crowd was on him. Many hands grabbing at him ... holding him back ... then pushing him down ... smothering him ...

Harry woke with a start, sitting bolt upright in his bed, drenched in sweat and panting heavily, completely out of breath. It felt like he'd just run a hundred miles.

He sat for a moment, thinking over what he'd just experienced, letting the face he'd seen so clearly set into his mind.

He knew exactly who those handsome features belonged to, he had indeed seem them before, but it couldn't be ... it was impossible ...

Harry decided that this would have to wait to be dealt with until after the memorial services, but lay back down with a feeling of real unease in his stomach - there was absoloutely no way this could be who he though it was ...


	6. The Memorial and The Memory Charm

The atmosphere in the kitchen as Harry pushed away his breakfast plate, unable to force himself to continue eating, was rather subdued. Everyone was clearly dreading the forthcoming memorial service, but wouldn't miss it for the world - determined to say one last goodbye to their loved ones. Because of the severely conflicting emotions though, nobody seemed quite sure how to act. Ron seemed particularly disturbed, not even managing to finish his breakfast. Hermione must have picked up on the fact that this was exceptionally out of character for him, as she kept glancing over at him every few minutes, apparently quite worried for his well being.

Mr Weasley had been correct in his assumption the previous night though, as Mrs Weasley was indeed fussing over everyone else in the room, remarking on everything from Harry and Ron's lack of appetite to the fact that Bill was, in her opinion, still well overdue a hair cut.

'Molly,' Mr Weasley eventually said softly, looking at his wife sympathetically, 'We're going to be leaving in half an hour, so don't you want to just sit back and take a break until then?'

'No, Arthur, I don't want to _take a break_,' she snapped, 'I have to make sure the kids are ready to go, and whilst we're on the subject of getting ready, don't you think it's about time you got your dress robes on?' Harry caught Mr Weasley's eye as he rose to leave the table and head upstairs, and gave him a weak smile, which Mr Weasley returned, giving Harry the impression that he'd known what was coming when he asked his wife to have a break, but thought he'd try on the off chance that she would agree. 'That goes for the rest of you as well,' she continued, once Mr Weasley had gone, her gaze sweeping the room now, a dangerous edge to her voice, 'I don't want the usual last minute scramble - not today of all days!'

That had prompted everyone to get themselves changed and ready to go as quickly as possible and Mrs Weasley seemed genuinely shocked when everyone was downstairs and ready five minutes before they were actually due to leave.

After five minutes, five minutes that Harry thought felt more like five hours, of waiting around in the kitchen, Harry was cursing himself for allowing his determination to decipher his dream keep him awake so late the previous night. He could feel his eyelids growing heavy as they sat there waiting and was actually pretty relieved when Mrs Weasley finally announced it was time to leave. He would be, once again, side along Apparating with Ginny, so took her hand as they stepped out into the garden.

Harry deliberately waited until everyone else had Apparated and pulled Ginny close for a moment, 'I'm going to help you through today and everything's going to be just fine,' he said quitely, 'Today will be incredibly hard, for everyone, but we'll have so much to look forward to afterwards and I want you to know I can't wait to start planning the rest of our life together.' Ginny kissed him, several times actually, in response to this and Harry guessed that because of how tender and soft they were, he might actually have said exactly the right thing for a change. 'Ready to go?' He asked softly, when they had reluctantly come apart, 'As I'll ever be,' was Ginny's quiet response, and then they were gone, Apparating to Hogsmeade to meet everyone else.

Hogsmeade was packed. Infact, Harry was sure it was even busier today than it usually was at the height of Summer when the pupils of Hogwarts visited at the weekend. Due to the sheer volume of people, it took them a while to locate everyone else and it was only the fact that Ron's vivid red hair stood above most of the crowd that they spotted them. Slipping through the crowd, keeping a tight hold of Ginny's hand, Harry finally managed to navigate them to the rest of their party, then all together, they started the walk up to Hogwarts Castle.

Harry had thought Hogsmeade was busy, but in comparison, Hogwarts, or at least the grounds, were positively filled to the brim. There must have been in excess of a thousand people in attendance already and by the looks of things in Hogsmeade, many more were yet to arrive. There were hundreds of rows of seats that had been lined along the lakeside, much in the same fashion as Dumbledore's memorial had been, but on a much larger scale. They all faced toward a podium, that Harry assumed would be where a select few said a few words to mark the occasion.

As they took their seats, Harry found himself sitting with Ginny on his right hand side, with the rest of their group proceeding to her right, taking up a whole row of seats. On his left hand side was an empty seat which, even though he hated himself for thinking it, he really hoped nobody would sit in it, just for the sake of sitting next to Harry Potter.

After about fifteen minutes, most of which had been spent chatting quietly with Ginny, Ron and Hermione, a lone woman with a baby in tow took the seat to Harry's left. Harry turned to smile politely in welcome, but was forced to do a double take, as sitting next to him was Andromeda Tonks, with his little Godson, Teddy Lupin.

'Mrs Tonks!' He exclaimed, completely taken aback by their arrival, 'It's so good to see you - and Teddy!'

'It's good to see you all too,' she replied, smiling at them all, then speaking directly to Harry, 'First of all, it's certainly not Mrs Tonks to you, we're practically family now for goodness sake, I _insist_ you call me either Andromeda, or just Dromeda. Whichever you prefer. Anyway, I thought you would like to spend some time with Teddy - I've been telling him all about you.' Harry's feeling of sudden, surging panic must have been clearly displayed on his face, as she continued with a laugh, 'Don't worry, Harry! I won't just be handing him over and leaving you to it - come here and I'll show you how to hold him properly.'

As Harry held his Godson for the first time, he was hit by such an overwhelming force of emotion, that he never even felt the tears that were suddenly stinging his eyes come. It was a mixture of incredible happiness, for having Teddy in his life, and desperate grief for Remus and Tonks, who would never see their little boy grow up. Harry dropped his head, as if leaning closer to Teddy, to disguise his emotion, but Ginny wasn't fooled, as she was suddenly caressing Harry's arm, ever so gently, just letting him know she was there for him.

'_Oh_, Harry!' Andromeda suddenly exclaimed, 'It seems he's captivated by you already! Look ... his eyes!'

Harry finally looked up, and right into Teddy's eyes, which up until moments ago, had been a light shade of brown. They were now, incredibly, a brilliant emerald green that was so familiar to Harry. Teddy was giggling slightly, as if he knew exactly what he was doing, 'They're just like mine,' was all he managed to mumble before he had to stop himself talking anymore, certain he was about to burst into tears any moment now.

Andromeda must have noticed Harry's fight to keep control, as she decided to take Teddy at that moment. 'He's taken quite a liking to mimicking features from those he feels a connection with,' she explained, with a loving look at her Grandson, 'I imagine he finds everyone's reaction rather amusing!'

They all laughed at this, but Harry was actually very touched. Even though it was quite plausible that Teddy had changed his eye colour to Harry's purely because the colour was so vivid, Harry firmly believed that Andromeda was correct and that it was the first sign of the connection he and Teddy were going to share for a long, long time.

Suddenly though, as the noise level dropped several notches all around them, all of this was pushed to the back of Harry's mind for the time being. For at that very moment, Minerva McGonagall was making her way up to the podium, and as she reached the top, she spoke to the full crowd, her voice magically amplified to ten times it's normal volume, 'If everyone could please take their seats,' she said, rather stiffly, 'The service will be commencing momenterally!'

Suddenly there was a huge rush from behind them to grab a seat. Harry hadn't noticed the Hogwarts grounds filling up as much as they had, but surmised there must have been many people gathered around at the back of the seating area, out of his line of sight. As he watched hundreds of Witches and Wizards hurry towards their seats from the back, he also noticed Kingsley Shacklebolt slip into his front row seat along with Percy. However, after a minute or so, Percy stood and made his way over to where Harry and the rest of the group were sitting, and much to Harry's relief, he went to sit beside his parents.

Then, as an elderly, tufty haired Wizard that Harry thought he vaguely recognised made his way to the podium, the service was underway. This prompted Harry to wrap an arm around Ginny and allow her to slide a bit closer to him. He had already promised himself that he would be strong for Ginny today, just like she had been for him at Dumbledore's memorial. Therefore, he forced himself to sit there, listening to the solemn words of the little, tufty haired Wizard. At this point of Dumbledore's memorial, he had been able to lose himself in his own grief and anger. Today though, he was determined to stay focused, so he could comfort Ginny at all the right moments.

As the little Wizard finally wrapped up his service, about an hour later, and stood down from the podium, there were sobs audible throughout the crowd. Many of which were coming, Harry realised with a pang of guilt, from his right hand side, where the rest of the Weasley's, Hermione and Fluer sat. Knowing there was nothing he could do for any of them at that moment though, Harry kissed Ginny softly on the forehead as she leaned on his shoulder, tears gently trickling down her cheeks, and then flashed what he hoped was a reassuring smile at Andromeda, who seemed to be holding up very well, all things considered.

Then his attention, along with everyone else's, was pulled back to the podium. McGonagall had stood up, a long piece of parchment in her hand. Harry knew immediately, without quite knowing how, that she was about to name the dead. He pulled Ginny even closer now, knowing what was sure to come when she heard her brothers name called out along with the others who had died that fateful night.

The name list was the trigger for Ginny to finally let go. She went from gently weeping on Harry's shoulder, to full on sobbing when Fred's name was mentioned. Harry tried to be as calm and solid as possible, to stay strong and comfort her, but at the mention of Fred, then Remus, Tonks and Colin Creevey amongst over fifty others, he too felt the tears coming thick and fast.

It took everyone, including McGonagall, who had faltered several times whilst reading the names, several moments to compose themselves again, but they were in for one more shock. McGonagall had went on to say a few short, but respectable words about one Severus Snape. Mentioning his bravery, loyalty and of course the fact that he had been on the right side the whole time. This certainly proved to be quite a point of interest, and more than a few hushed whispers were exchanged about this new revelation. Harry was glad McGonagall had decided to do that for Snape. Although he still certainly wouldn't ever call Snape a friend, he was one of the bravest men Harry had ever known and had saved Harry's life on more than one occasion. So, despite the fact he was a greasy git, sarcastic, and downright horrible to Harry whenever possible, he couldn't help but admire his old Potions Master, and was more than happy to forgive him for the six years of hell he had tried to put Harry through at Hogwarts. He truly hoped everyone else would feel the same way.

After a few more words from McGonagall, a terrifying arrow salute that was too close for comfort from the Centaurs and some eerie music emitting from the Lake, which Harry recognised as a sign of respect from the Merepeople, the service was finally over. They all stayed long enough to say goodbye to Andromeda and Teddy, and a few other familiar faces, such as Hagrid, Neville and his Grandmother and Luna and her Father, then all headed towards the Hogwarts gates, to make their way to Hogsmeade, where they had decided to Apparate straight back to the Burrow to have a private wake for Fred. There was a wake being held at Hogwarts too, but they all unanimously agreed that there was nowhere they would rather be than the Burrow, and nobody they would rather be with than their family. They did of course extend an invite to Hagrid, Neville, Luna and Andromeda, who were all considered family, but all of them, understandably, had their own plans to deal with the aftermath of the service.

'How're you feeling?' Harry asked Ginny quitely, as they made their way towards Hogsmeade. 'I'm going to be fine, thank you for earlier, I can't tell you how much it helped having you there today.' She replied with a teary smile, 'I just want to be back home now, so we can have time together with everyone else ... we all need to help each other through this.' Harry thought Ginny was quite right, and he too had thoughts only for the rest of the family as they finally reached Hogsmeade and Apparated back to the Burrow.

As soon as they arrived back into the Kitchen of the Burrow, Mr Weasley summoned a large bottle of Firewhiskey from one of the topmost cupboards and proceeded to pour everyone a generous measure of the fiery hot drink. 'To Fred!' He toasted, as they all gladly accepted the drink. It burned Harry's throat wickedly on the way down, but filled him with a warmth that instantly made him feel a bit better. Everyone else had also knocked back their first measure, so Mr Weasley poured another equally large drink for everyone again, before they all retreated to the Living Room.

The rest of the night at the Burrow was a real bittersweet affair. Harry, Hermoine and Fluer mostly listened as the Weasley's told stories of Fred's antics before his untimely death. At the start there were many tears, but as time went on and a few more drinks were had by all, the stories became more amusing, and laughter was more frequent than crying. It was great hearing everyone laughing and sharing their fond memories of Fred. Everything from his first word, which Harry wasn't surprised to hear was 'joke', to hilarious stories of him and George planting spiders in Ron's cot when they were younger was discussed, and Harry was so glad to be able to be there for the Weasley's, as they'd been so many times in the past for him. Despite the awful circumstances of the gathering, he couldn't help but feel that together, as a family, they would all get through this.

It was getting late though, and Mr and Mrs Weasley soon decided to head to bed, bidding everyone goodnight. It wasn't long after that when Charlie, and Bill and Fluer also decided to get some sleep, then George announced he would be heading back to his flat for the night, as Lee Jordan had persuaded him to have a few drinks for old times sakes. So, this just left Harry, Ron, Ginny and Hermione. Harry had actually been hoping for a moment like this at some point, as he had been desperate to offload his concerns about his dreams for the whole day.

As they all returned to the Living Room though, after seing off George, it was Hermione who spoke first. 'Erm, I know that my timing is really awful,' she began tentatively, like it was a real struggle for her to have this conversation, 'It's just ... well, I've been waiting for the four of us to be alone for a while now, so I hope you don't mind hearing me out for a bit...' Harry was a bit taken aback. He had expected to be the one having this conversation with the rest of them, but it sounded like their friend was really concerned about something, so he was fully prepared to listen to whatever she had to say. 'Of course we'll listen Hermione, take all the time you need.' he said softly.

'Thanks, Harry,' she said, with a weak smile, 'There's probably no easy way to ask this, so I suppose I better just make it quick ... I've got to go to Australia and restore my parents memory. I really don't know how they're going to react after they find out I've had them in another country for months, without any knowledge of their only daughter, so it would mean an awful lot to me if you would all come with me ... I know I'm asking a lot, so please don't feel like you have to, it would just mean a lot to have you all ... to have you all there for support.' She finished with a soft shudder, and began to cry, obviously dreading having to tell her parents the lengths she'd had to go to, just to ensure their safety.

Ginny left Harry's side at that moment, to go and comfort Hermione with Ron. Harry was watching on, once again feeling absolutely terrible, as it had somehow completely escaped his memory that Hermione's parents were still in Australia with a memory charm in place that made it impossible for them to recall anything about Hermione. He hadn't even thought about the obvious - that Hermione would have to go back for them and undo the charm.

Chastising himself once again for his stupidity and lack of awareness, he too joined Ron and Ginny with a comforting arm round Hermione, and reassurances that they most certainly would be accompanying her to Australia. She was so delighted to hear this, that she started to sob uncontrollably, thanking them all over and over again. It took her quite a while to calm down and it was at that point where Ron suggested they went to bed too, and Harry wasn't going to argue. He had completely decided against bringing up the dream after Hermione had revealed her problem, feeling that his dream issue was pale in comparison.

So, as Ron and Hermione went up to bed, he and Ginny were left together on the couch. Harry was so glad to have her to himself for a while and immediately pulled her close for a long, lingering kiss. 'Do you want to lie down here for a bit,' he whispered softly to her, as she laid her head on his chest. He suddenly realised how tired he was - it had been a long day.

'Of course I do, it's so lonely up there in bed alone, I _really_ wish you weren't in a seperate room.' She sighed.

If it wasn't the fact your Mum was such a prolific dueller,' he joked, 'Or, of course that you didn't have five brothers that are more than capable of looking after themselves, then I might just have joined you tonight...'

She laughed tiredly, then cuddled in a bit closer, 'I love you, Harry, stay down here with me tonight at least, and I promise if any of my brothers, or my Mum has a problem with that, I'll fight it out with them.'

Harry smiled at Ginny's fiery attitude, 'How could I refuse after that offer?' He said, finding it more and more difficult to keep his eyes open, 'I love you too, and you're right, this is so much better than bed alone.'

Then they were both drifting off, Harry's last conscious thought being how soft and warm Ginny felt as they melted into one another.


	7. Parents and Prosperity

It was Mrs Weasley who found Harry and Ginny the next morning, pausing for a moment to take in how incredibly content her daughter looked lying with Harry, before gently shaking them awake to let them know that breakfast was ready for them.

Harry had felt quite uncomfortable being found on the couch alone with Ginny, and felt compelled to give Mrs Weasley an explanation, "Er, Mrs Weasley, I'm sorry ... we must have fell asleep, the last thing I remember was lying talking, but I'll make sure we get up to our own beds from now on," he muttered feebly, "Not that you have anything to worry about with us being down here of course, we were just sleeping..." He added hastily, now blushing furiously.

Mrs Weasley was watching him with a look of what could almost have been pity on her face, but Harry was extremely relieved to see she was also smiling. "Harry, dear, you have absolutely nothing to worry about," she said softly, "I trust you more than I could ever say, and know that there is no doubt you will look after my little girl."

Harry was relieved beyond words at hearing this, but almost fainted when Ginny burst out, "So, Mum ... You trust Harry enough to let him sleep in my room then?"

Mrs Weasley laughed at this point, "Nice try, Ginerva Weasley," she said, "It probably won't come as much of a shock to you, but I think the person I _would_ have trouble trusting, would be you! I think therefore, that the couch, fully clothed, with a cover will do just fine for you both just now, don't you think?"

"_Mum_!" Ginny exclaimed, her eyes alight with amusement, "fine ... you win, the couch is good enough for me."

"How does that sound for you, dear?" Mrs Weasley asked Harry, who merely nodded and blushed a bit more in response.

Mrs Weasley then reminded them that they should come through and get breakfast while it was still hot. On her way out of the Living Room though, Harry was sure he seen her throw a wink at Ginny, and was certain that the two of them had just used Harry's awkwardness as a tool to have a bit of fun with. He was still smiling to himself as he finished breakfast, at which point Ron and Hermione entered the Kitchen. The first thing they would have seen as they entered, would have been Harry sitting at the table next to Ginny, with a big stupid grin on his face.

"What're you looking so pleased about?" Ron asked Harry suspiciously, "it's still too bloody early to be looking that happy, so what's happened?"

Harry laughed at his friends typically inept judgement of the situation, "Morning to you too, mate, don't worry, nothing's happened - I've just realised your Mum and Sister have been winding me up for their own amusement."

"I think Harry's just pretty happy that he got to wake up with Ginny this morning," Mrs Weasley teased, still busy at the stove, "I think he's been rather lonely up in that room all by himself."

"WHAT?!" Ron burst out, grasping the kitchen bunker for support, looking like he was literally about to pass out, then he started mumbling a lot of inaduble nonsense, "Harry ... Little Sister ... In Bed ... My House," was about all anyone understood. Hermione stood next to him, looking utterly exasperated, but doing a good job of keeping a straight face while she patted his arm gently.

Harry though, was actually quite alarmed at his best friends reaction, and was about to put him out of his misery, when Ginny beat him to it, "Ron, if you must know, Mum is winding you up. Harry and I slept on the couch last night," she giggled at his expression instantly brightening, "I hardly see how you can complain though, everyone knows Hermione sleeps in your room and everyone is equally aware that you only have one bed, so it's pretty obvious where she sleeps too."

Everyone was in fits of laughter at Ginny's parting blow, but even more hilarious, was Ron's reaction. He went a deeper shade of red than Harry had ever thought possible and shook his head in disbelief, as if he too had only just found out Hermione was sleeping in his bed. It took him a good half an hour to resurface from his shock, much to everyone's amusement, but then He, Harry, Hermione and Ginny had to get down to business. They had a trip to plan.

After much discussion and debating taking place in the Living Room, they all finally seemed to have something they agreed on.

"Alright then, so lets recap it one more time, just so we know it all fits into place," Hermione said, slightly out of breath.

"Right," said Ron, sitting up straighter, "First of all, we're going to get an Owl to Kingsey, from Harry of course, he seems to like you best, mate," he added this almost as an afterthought, for Harry's benefit, "Harry will request an urgent meeting for later today, then we'll head into the Village down the road, telling Mum and everyone else we're just going to get some fresh air and ice creams."

"Then I'll Apparate to the Ministry under my Cloak," Harry continued, "where I'll try to convince Kingsley to set up an international Portkey for us all to get out to Hermione's parents. If there are any problems, I'll just let him know we will be going regardless of whether he authorises the Portkey or not, but we'd much rather be back in time for work on Monday ... I'm sure that will be a bit of an incentive for him to do it. After I've spoke with Kingsley, I'll then Apparate to Diagon Alley, where I'll quickly pick up a supply of emergency galleons, just incase we need it."

"Then," it was Ginny who spoke this time, "Once we're certain that everything is in place, we will break the news to everyone at Dinner tonight, then leave in the Morning. All going well, we will spend the night at Hermione's parents place and be back here by Friday."

'Everyone agreed?' Harry asked. Nods from everyone confirmed they had a plan of action.

"Harry," Hermione said quietly, "Are you certain you don't mind this plan ... It's just, well, it seems you're doing most of the work, while we just wait and eat ice cream until you get back..."

"It's really no problem, Hermione, it's the least I can do after you gave up a year of your life to hunt down Horcruxes with me. Besides, it really is the quickest way to do this, so don't worry about it." He smiled at his friend reassuringly, knowing she would need all the support she could get until she had her parents back to normal.

"Thank you, Harry, and everyone of course, this means so much to me, having you all here for support." Hermione had a grateful hug for Ginny and Harry, and a kiss for Ron, which despite looking uncomfortable at the fact Harry and Ginny were so close to them, he was left looking rather pleased with himself.

"Right then," Ron exclaimed, with a sudden spring in his step, "let's go and find Pig and get this message to Kingsley."

Once Pigwidgeon was on his way, obscenely excited at the prospect of delivering their message, they all went back to theIr rooms to get ready to go. After a quick shower and change of clothes, they all met on the first floor landing before making their way down to the kitchen, where they made their excuses to the rest of the Weasley's and Fluer, then left to walk into the nearby village.

As they arrived on the outskirts of the little village beyond the Burrow, Harry was immediately drawn to a little cafe with an outdoor seating area, that was conveniently deserted at that point. "This is perfect, let's take the furthest seat over there, so we can watch the door and windows." He declared to everyone, before taking Ginny's hand and leading her over to the table. "Ron," he added, after a moments thought, "You're positive Pigwidgeon will find us here, he won't just go back to the Burrow?"

"Nah ... definitely not, mate," Ron said distractedly, as he was currently in the process of eyeing up the homemade cakes on the cafe menu, "Remember he found you on the Hogwarts Express when Sirius first sent him?" Harry did indeed remember this, but didn't dwell on it for too long, as even after all this time, it still pained him to think of how little time he had been granted with his Godfather.

"In that case then," Harry said, snapping out of his thoughts, "I think I'll grab some drinks so we don't look so suspicious sitting here." He was nearly at the entrance to the cafe when Ron called over from the table, "Do me a favour, mate, pick me up one of their home baked cupcakes, they look delicious." Harry suppressed the urge to laugh at his friends ridiculous appetite, controlling himself instead to manage a slight grin when he entered the cafe - determined not to attract attention to them.

After half an hour or so of sitting outside the cafe, just chatting and enjoying each others company, Ron was the first to notice the little dot in the sky moving towards them. "Pig's back!" He exclaimed - standing up and pointing toward the approaching Owl. "Ron, you imbecile, _sit down_!" Hissed Hermione, staring fervently in the windows of the Muggle cafe, to see if Ron had drawn any unwanted attention, then when she was satisfied he hadn't, she added, "Honestly, I know subtlety isn't your strong point, but _please_ try to remember we're in a completely non-magic community, where a young man waiting for an owl to deliver a letter tends to be quite unheard of!" Ron looked rather taken aback at Hermione's outburst, but must have had the sense not to retort this time, as he just sat quitely and waited for Pigwidgeon to approach.

Once they had detached the response from Pigwidgeon as quickly as possible, they hurriedly sent him on his way back to the Burrow, before his over zealous attitude caught anyone's attention.

Harry unfolded the piece of parchment and read quickly:-

_Harry_,

_I would be delighted to meet, I am in the office until 3pm today, but have to leave for meetings afterwords._

_If you are able to make it before then, just stop by my office, my secretary knows you are on your way._

_Kingsley_

"_Brilliant_," said Ron, who had been reading over Harry's shoulder, carefully keeping his voice to a whisper now, obviously not particularly keen on being on the receiving end of another of Hermione's scaldings, "You're good to go, mate."

Harry nodded in agreement, then pocketed the parchment. "I shouldn't be gone more than an hour. If I'm any longer than two, then something's wrong. You all have to get back to the Burrow and get help before anyone tries to worry about me. I'm not expecting any trouble, especially as I'll be under the cloak most of the time, but you never know."

With that said, he bent down to kiss Ginny, much to Ron's disgust, then after checking nobody was watching, he threw his invisibility cloak over his shoulders and Apparated to the little red telephone box, that served as the visitors entrance to the Ministry of Magic. He dialled in six..two..four..four..two, then a cool, female voice spoke:-

_Welcome to the Ministry of Magic, what is your name and what is the purpose of your visit?_

"Harry Potter," he stated, "Here to remain unseen." He smiled at this, thinking it would cause someone, somewhere quite a bit of confusion, then a badge clattered out of the phone itself:-

_Harry Potter: In Hiding_

Thinking happily to himself that they were way off the mark, he slipped the badge into a pocket under his cloak, then began to descend, until he stepped out the telephone box and into the Atrium itself, which seemed to be caught in a whirlwind of activity. It seemed that someone occupied every inch of the highly polished oak floor and things weren't made any easier as every so often, someone would appear out of one of the many fireplaces that lined the wall, to join the already hectic Atrium. He was going to have to be exceptionally careful not to accidentally bump into anyone on the way to the lifts.

It was every bit as difficult manoeuvring around everyone as he had thought it would be, but somehow he managed to make it all the way over to the lifts undetected. The lift journey itself though, was probably even worse, as he had to keep himself pressed tightly against the wall, just incase someone uncovered him unintentionally. He was extremely relieved when he was the only one left in the lift when he arrived at the first floor, and practically dived out before anyone else had the opportunity to enter.

After many winding corridors, he finally found himself outside the Ministers office. As he pushed the door open, he quickly removed his cloak and stepped into a room that looked very much like a reception. A pretty, brunette witch sat behind the desk at the far end of the room, so Harry assumed this must be Kingsley's secretary - she didn't look much older than Harry, but he didn't recognise her.

"Er, Hi..." He called as he approached the desk, "I think Minister Shacklebolt is expecting me?"

Her eyes widened spectacularly in recognition, which had her blushing, obviously embarrassed at her sudden, involuntary reaction. "Sorry, Mr Potter..." She said breathlessly, "You're right, he's expecting you, just go on through..." She was indicating to the door on her left hand side, which evidently led to Kingsley's main office.

"Thanks very much ... Millie," he confirmed, after locating her name on her desk plate, "Please though, just call me Harry from now on." This earned him a radiant smile, which he returned, before stepping into Kingsley's office.

"Ah, Harry, good to see you!" Kingsley stood from his desk and shook Harry's hand. "I must say, my colleagues upstairs had quite a tough time trying to work out where you'd disappeared to after you announced your arrival at the visitors entrance. Quite the natural in the stealth and concealment department aren't you?" Kingsley was smiling, but he also looked like he was mildly impressed. He then gestured for Harry to take a seat, as he sat back behind his own desk.

"Before you begin, Harry, as I'm sure your reason for asking to meet so quickly is of a - _er_ - sensitive nature, I'm just going to give us some privacy."

Kingsley pointed his wand over Harry's shoulder at the door, "_Imperturbatus_!"

"Alright then Harry, what can I do for you?"

"I need a favour, Kingsley. When I was tracking down Voldemort's Horcruxes, as you already know, Ron and Hermione came with me. What you probably don't know, is that before we left, Hermione was forced to alter her parents memory, to convince them that they lived in Australia and that they had never had a daughter. She feared for their safety while she was away, so felt she didn't have any other choice."

Kingsley's eyebrows shot up in surprise at this revelation, "Well, you're certainly correct, Harry. I had no idea."

"Well, that's the lengths she was prepared to go to for their safety, but now she needs to correct their memory and explain what's been going on for the last year. As I'm sure you can understand, I want to be there for her when she has to go through this, but of course, getting to Australia and back could take some time if we were left to our own devices..."

"Harry, I understand. I will arrange for a Portkey to be -"

"Actually, Kingsley, I would much rather that we kept this between ourselves. The less people that know what we're doing and where we're going, the better. Would you mind setting up the Portkey personally?"

Kingsley looked momenterally taken aback, but then smiled again, "Again, Harry, you're quite right. Yes, I think that would be a very wise idea indeed. Tell me when you need it for and where you need to go..."

And with that, Harry rattled off the name of the little village Hermione had told him earlier and instructed Kingsley to have the Portkey ready to use at eleven o'clock the following morning.

Kingsley nodded and stood from his desk. He wandered round past Harry, apparently looking for something. Finally returning to his desk with a small, rather ugly vase.

"Forgive me, Harry," he said with a grin, "Whilst I have no issue helping you on this occasion, I had to find something that I wouldn't miss in amongst my possessions here. Luckily this truly hideous gift from the Bulgarian Minister of Magic is something I don't mind giving away."

Then, pointing his wand at the vase, "_Portus_!" - the little vase emitted a blue light, whilst shuddering violently, before suddenly looking extremely normal again.

"There you are, Harry." Kingsley said, handing Harry the Portkey, "All set for eleven o'clock tomorrow. I don't think I need to remind you, but watch each others backs. It's still a bit mad out there ... you'll see for yourself on Monday!"

"I'm sure I will, I can't wait to get started," grinned Harry, shaking Kingsley's hand and standing up to leave. "I better get going, if I'm not back within the hour, I'm afraid my friends will have a full search party out in force. Thanks again for doing this though, it's very much appreciated."

"Well, it's good to hear you've picked good company, Harry, and it's really no problem ... see you Monday."

As Harry left Kingsley's office, saying goodbye to Millie on the way out, he felt quite pleased with how that had gone. He had expected to have had to convince Kingsley to set up the Portkey, but had only had to ask. He was really glad that his old friend from the Order didn't seem to have changed since being named Minister of Magic. That was a really useful friend to have, he thought happily to himself as he threw on his cloak again in the deserted corridor outside Kingsley's reception area, then made his way up to the visitors departure area, crossing the much less crowded Atrium a lot easier this time.

He arrived in a small side street, just off Diagon Alley, moments after he had Apparated from outside the red telephone box. Quickly checking to see that nobody had heard him, he pulled off his cloak, then made the short journey over to Gringotts, as quickly as his legs would carry him.

As he entered Gringotts, he was pleased to see that there wasn't anyone in sight, bar the Goblins that staffed the bank. Apparently, if Diagon Alley and Gringotts were anything to go by, most people had heeded Kingsley's warning of safety first, and were still unsure about heading out until they had good reason to do so.

"Ah, Mr Potter, how fortunate your arrival is." A Goblin, sat high up on his right hand side, called out when he noticed who had entered. "Please, come here, I have many documents waiting here for you."

Harry, utterly nonplussed, made his way over to the Goblins desk. "Er, what do you mean ... many documents?"

"Well, sir," the Goblin said briskly, "As you are now of age, we have begun the process of transferring over all that you are due to inherit from the Potter and Black families. We also have several assets which were part of the inheritance that need to be signed over to your name. If you could give me ten minutes of your time, we can have everything in order."

Harry was completely dumbfounded. He was trying to process what the Goblin had told him, but was having difficulty getting over the sheer shock of it. This had been the last thing he had expected when he'd arrived to withdraw some emergency funds. "Er, when you say I've inherited both families accounts ... How much exactly -"

"You're account balance, Mr Potter," the Goblin interrupted with a cold smile, "is three hundred and seventy six million galleons, four hundred thousand sickles ... and ninety-three knuts. You also have several properties due to be registered in your name, along with several currently operational businesses."

"Oh ... right," Harry said, still numb with shock, "Well, just tell me where to sign then..."

After signing all the necessary paperwork and getting his new vault key from the Gringotts Goblin, Harry withdrew a couple of hundred galleons to keep him going over the next couple of weeks, then still completely flabbergasted by what had just happened, walked blindly over to the side street he had Apparated in to.

Just as he was about to throw his cloak over his shoulders though, he felt a strange sensation run up his neck that instantly snapped him out of his trancelike state. He felt sure at that very moment he was being watched, and was certain whoever it was, was behind him. He plunged his hand into his robes and withdrew his wand, whilst spinning round to confront whomever it may be. He breathed a sigh of relief as he saw a cat disappearing round the corner, obviously startled at his sudden movement, but couldn't get rid of the bad feeling that something wasn't quite right. He shrugged it off, putting it down to the shock he had experienced in Gringotts, then quickly adjusted his cloak, made sure the Portkey was safely in his robes pocket, then Apparated invisibly back to the cafe where Ginny, Ron and Hermione would be waiting for him. He had quite a story to tell them.


End file.
